MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — City Hall was expected to reopen to the public today after the ceiling of the City Council chamber collapsed in the middle of Tuesday night.
The portion of the ceiling that fell was a 2-inch-thick textured lining that was installed 15 years ago to cover asbestos, Mayor Jerry Smith said. City officials were aware the ceiling could someday be a problem, he said.
“We’ve just been patching our old City Hall for years, and we’ve been warning everyone this was going to happen,” Smith said.
Preliminary testing revealed no harmful levels of asbestos contamination in any part of City Hall outside the council chambers, city spokeswoman Penny Merkley said. It was unknown Wednesday whether the council chambers were unsafe.
The building was expected to be reopened today, but the City Council chambers will remain closed. The building’s air ventilation systems will be turned off to keep any contaminated air from circulating.
The City Council workshop scheduled for 7 p.m. today is being moved to the in the Mountlake Terrace Library next door to City Hall.
After the ceiling collapsed Tuesday, the council chambers were sealed off and the building was closed to the public. City employees were given the option to go home for the day. Some employees opted to stay inside City Hall and continue working.
“We felt like it was fairly safe in there,” Merkley said.
More test results were expected to be available by late Wednesday or early today.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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